Nature vs. Nurture

[MissC]

I am an Aquarius but I wish I were a Leo or Taurus. I know the stereotypical traits of a certain zodiac may not be true in all cases, because of how a person was raised. I was raised by my mom, who in an introverted, homebody type of person she is a Cancer. My mom's side of the family is very small and we pretty much just do our own thing. I am a social person and love to be in crowds, but i feel like the way I was raised has a lot to do with how I am. I can be introverted at times, and it takes me a while to open up and talk to people. Unless I am around a person who is talkative, and i find myself talking more, but more often than not, I am not the one that initiates conversation.
Is there a way to change this, or by nature will I always be this way? Growing up, I didnt see that my mom had alot of friends and she never really initiated or invited friends over or went to a friends house, etc. So i found myself being this way too. In high school when I did start to have compan over, etc, i didnt know how to entertain company because I never saw it being done. Or i thought being at my mom's place was boring (or i just thik my mom is boring, period) so i never invited people over. Sure, i know people, but I dont take the initiative to invite company over or if i go somewhere, call up a person i know and say "hey, would you like to go to such and such?"
Now that I have a daughter, I see myself being this way and i dont want to be. Sometimes, when I have to work, I would let her go to her dad's house instead of to my mom's house because i think of her as boring. Not that he's doing anything spectacular, maybe just going to the museum or out to eat, but I see it as more than what she would do at my mom's house, which would most likely be stayting indoors. Dont get me wrong, now that i am an adult, i see that she didnt do much because maybe she couldnt afford it and i feel bad when i cant afford to do more with mydaughter and i let him make me feel bad for not doing more activities with her. He'll call and ask can he have her on the days that I am supposed to have her and he'll basically say "ya'll aint doing shit, so can she come with us, we have museum passes or go bike riding, etc" He wouldnt say those exact words, but that's basically what he means, we aint doin' shit.
Is there a way to change this?

[knix20]

You can change. But you have to become the change you want to see.

Sometimes it is helpful to use visualization before you go to social outings. You can maybe find a freiends/celeb who you admire their persona and mimic their actions until you are able to naturally be a little more outgoing.

If you are able to talk with a talkative person, then you can do it on your own. You just have to let go of the doubt and self conscious feelings.

start off small.

take a continuing ed class at a college
find a meet up group on meetup.com
find a sports team on sportsvite.com
check out your city/state websites for events
read non mainstream mags/newspapers


once you do these things you will interact with other people. these will be people who have similar interests, but different personalities. It will allow you to get more comfortable with others

when it comes to your daughter, you don't have to have money to have fun.
in fact not having money gives you a chance to be resourceful and creative. it also gives you a chance to bound.

depending on your daughters interests you can find things to do
free concerts
charity walk-a-thons
arts and crafts(instructables.com)
teach her how to cook/bake
free movie festivals
exercise together(walk, bike, swim)
read the same book and discuss
volunteer

while doing these things, you also will meet other people.

some things are nature, but through nurture you can change. you can do what ever you want. just do it, dont think, dont worry, just do.